The Morning After
by Entendre Euphenist
Summary: Exactly what the title implies. Naruto wakes up somewhere strange with no recollection of what happened last night. Sasuke's not helping either. Now a two-shot that combines it's sequel 'The Next Day'....mentions of confusing relationships
1. The Morning After

A/N:Have mercy on me.

**T**he **M**orning **A**fter  
Entendre Euphenist

As the sun climbed higher in the sky, stray rays of light fell through a window, smacking a certain blond shinobi right in the face.

The first thing he realized when he sat up in bed, lethargically stratching his stomach, fingers catching on the waist band of his boxers, "My head's killing me," he mumbled to no one in particular as he stumbled into the bathroom.

Soon he was in the sink splashing water in his face to wake himself up. Looking up, a blue eyed blonde stared back at him. That wasn't what held his attention though. What confused him was the background. Just _where_ was he?

It wasn't his apartment. It was decorated in lavish blues, and and quiet blacks ,nothing at all like the loud oranges that had just about taken over the blonde's apartment.

No, this definitely wasn't his apartment. It was too sophisticated. Too dark. Too...Sasuke-ish.

He chuckled quietly to himself at that. This certainly seemed like the type of place Sasuke would live in.

Wiping his face with one of the spare towels, he dragged himself back to room he came out of, almost tripping over himself in the door-way. _Well, this is a surprise. _

Short ebony hair kissed a pale neck, curving gracefully into a back that was covered with a dark blue comforter. "Hinata?," he asked tentatively, a hand massaging his temple. He let out a sigh he didn't even know he was holding in.

He was at Hinata's apartment? When did she even move _out_of the Hyuuga complex? His mind was still whirling. Just what happened last night? Thinking back on it, he had no clue. It was like his memory had been wiped clean.

That meant something very good or extremely bad happened. In his experience it was usually the latter.

He looked at the bed again. Hinata? Not to say anything was wrong with her, or anything. She was just dandy. But, she was a really good friend. Nothing more, and nothing less.

Sighing he slid to the floor, back touching the door frame. It would help if he knew just how any of this had happened. He steadied his breathing trying to see if anything would come to him if he emptied his mind. Minutes passed and frustratedly he ran a hand through golden locks. No such luck.

He looked to the bed, hoping the figure lying blue there would have some answers for him, and his breath stuck in his throat. Widening blue eyes met amused (or irritated, you never really could tell with him) dark ones. The only thought in his mind:_That is definitely not Hinata_.

"You gonna stare at me all day, dobe?," a voice called out.

Naruto's eyes widened more if that were even possible as the situation sunk in. His heart beat faster and he furiously tried to deny what he saw in front of him. What he saw was a nice view of the Uchiha's backside as the man leaned over the bed before he averted his eyes to elsewhere.

_No,no no,no,no,no! This is not happening! This is not happening! Maybe if I close my eyes, I'll wake up, and this will all have been just a really bad dream. _Following his own advice, he close his eyes. After mentaly counting to three, he opened them, only to gasp at having the dark haired man so close to him. A pale hand reached out to rest on his temple.

"You have a head-ache, right?," without waiting for an answer Sasuke strided out of the room, clearly expecting his team-mate to follow. He did, albeit still puzzled.

He entered the kitchen to find the Uchiha, now sporting sweat pants, ruffling through the cabinets. The moment he sat at the small table in the corner the raven turned to him, class of water and two aspirin in hand. Seeing the blonde's confusion, "This would be for the hangover, moron."

Naruto nodded his thanks before swigging the pills down. Setting the cup back on the table, he looked into expectant black orbs, almost immediately breaking the contact. He ran his fingers through gold locks before drumming them against the wooden surface as he searched for the best way to phrase this.

"Ano, Sasuke...what exactly happened, last night?", he said hesitantly, choosing that moment to look up, "I don't exactly remember anything."

Something flashed quickly through those obsidian orbs before they were blank, wiped clean of emotion. He snorted before giving Naruto that ever present Uchiha smirk. "It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out." With that, he stood up and went to sink to wash out the dish.

Hundreds of possibilities of just exactly what could have occured ran through his mind, and he flushed. None of this made any sense, and Sasuke's cryptic response hadn't given him any answers. It was really frustrating. "How'd I get here? Why was I drunk?," he asked weakly, grasping at straws so that he could finally get some clues in hopes of getting some answers.

Pale arms folded across a bare chest. "Why would I know why you came here wasted,dobe?" He turned once again to the cabinents and managed to find something suitable to put on the stove. Muttering,"I'm surprised you actually found your way over here."

Tan fingers clenched the table ledge as an onslaught of blurry images over took him...

_"cheers!"_

_The sound of mugs clinking, and there was the bitter burn as sake slid down his throat. As the group started to disperse, no one noticed the blonde stumble morosely into the night._

_He distributed charkra to his feet sloppily and somehow managed to land atop the rooftops of Konoha. Even though this was rather stupid of him, especially since everything was starting to look hazy and out of focus, he gained a swaying tempo as he jumped from building to building. It was the quickest way._

_The dark night silhouettes of the buildings drew together in sudden clarity before losing all focus and looking for all the world a jumble of colors._

_A jumble of gray appeared in front of him, numbers swirling out to meet him as he strained to stand up straight in his inebriated stupor._

_Somehow the key found the slot and collapsed inside the apartment. There was quiet shuffling sounds from a back room,and suddenly there was a kunai at his neck. "Oh, it's you."_

_The source of the sound was right in front of him but it came out muted somehow. Like, someone had draped a cloth over Naruto's ears._

_Black eyes swam in and out of focus, and he collasped against the black and white blur in front of him. Everything was totally unclear, as if he was seeing everything from a distance. He had to squint at the figure, but he knew it almost immediately._

_"Sasuke",he breathed, and the single utterance simply fogged up his view, separating him from the world. Leaving him completely and totally stranded, and alone. He didn't want to be alone. Not right now._

_He reached up for something to hold onto. For something to anchor him down. He felt as if without doing so, he would float away and become nothing._

_The arm he had latched onto tightened around him in an embrace. He clung on, afraid to float, afraid to fly away..._

He snapped back to the present, blinking surreally. "I didn't want to go home?", he voiced his thoughts aloud. Truthfully, he never really spent much time in the thread-bare flat anyway but the feelings he got from this memory were of unadulterated dread. Since when did he dread going home, anyways? Fear it enough to run off to Sasuke's?

A part of him wanted to argue that he was a ninja, and never ran from anything, but that was exactly what he had done in his drunken state. Sighing, he ran a hand through limp locks, a distressing habit that had become more than occurrence in the face of all things current.

A voice brought him out of his ponderings. "Well you definitely didn't want to leave here," the avenger stated smirking at seeing just how much his words affected his friend. "You just wouldn't leave me alone." He drawled, bringing the blonde's frustration to a boiling point.

The raven soon found himself pinned against a wall, with a very pissed-off loudmouth shinobi in his face. "Stop being a bastard and just tell me what happened!"

If anything, the Uchiha's smirk widened a fraction. "It's not my fault you came over drunker than Tsunaide and can't remember a god-damned thing."

This apparently was the wrong answer as he was slammed into the wall again. The vulpine boy was practically growling in his face, each of the blonde's breaths blowing hot against his alabaster skin. He frowned. The boy looked sincerely ticked off. "Already riled up, Naruto?"

Mouth already open to retort before blue eyes faltered, releasing their grip on the dark haired teen who just stood there, dark eyes silently watching his every move.

He blew out a burst of air. "I'm sorry. I-I don't know why I got so upset. It's just,I have absolutely no clue what I did at all yesterday. No friggin clue. The way I'm flippin out, who knows what I did and-," here he cut himself off to look Sasuke straight in the eye, showing him just how much this was effecting him. "Just tell me what happened last ."

That last word had Sasuke staring staight at him a myriad of emotions flying across his face, before it all suddenly was wiped away again .Blank as a slate.

"You were drunk. I was horny. We fucked," the silence seemed to follow the boy's rather abrupt comment only thickened when the other occupant of the room stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

"That went well," the Uchiha said sarcastically, running a hand through his hair before stopping in shock. Now he was doing it too. Great.

**The Morning After**

Naruto stormed out of the complex, completely forgetting his state of undress as he mentally cursed the raven haired avenger on the other side of that door.

For all everyone said it, Naruto was not dense nor was he stupid. It was obvious just from the little figments of last night he remembered and the events from today just what had happened last night. That wasn't what he had been asking about, and the Uchiha had known.

He had known and he had averted the question. He knew Sasuke had lied. He couldn't lie to him just like when the other knew Naruto wasn't telling the truth. It was just another facet of their extremely frustrating friendship.

The bond they had...that Naruto seriously questioned. For it seemed like Sasuke seemed bent on destroying it until it was mangled beyond repair.

Three years. Three years of chasing after the boy who broke his heart in more ways than either of them cared to admit, pushing himself beyond his limits all for a promise and fragile strand of friendship that had all put evaporated over night.

A tiny part of him wondered why he was reacting this way, but then again when didn't he when it came to Sasuke?

After all, this coming from the blonde who shut down when he returned back to the village, the rest of the Konoha Five in critical condition, and the Uchiha not in sight. He'd broken his nindo, and at that moment, something inside his mind had snapped.

So, using the perks being a ninja of Konohagakure gave him, he went to bar and drowned out his misery with dark, burning escape. It clogged everything, and blocked out his failure, and the anger and the question of why that kept throbbing in his chest in time with his heart.

That was the first and last time he had ever experienced the foggy freedom of drunkenness. The hangover helped him learn his lesson.

Or so he thought until Sasuke showed up five months ago at the gates, that god-damn smirk present on his pale face, and he headed right down to the nearest pub.

Pushing aside his Sasuke-related drinking habits, as they were beside the point, he truly wondered what set him off to the barrel, when someone called him.

He looked up in surprise to see a livid pink-haired kunoichi barelling down the pathway towards him.

"Naruto!, you idiot what do you think you're doing!!", came the cry and he didn't even have time to flinch before a fist connected soundly with his head.

"Sakura", he said brightly, putting on a smile as he rubbed his head tenderly.

"Don't Sakura me, why are you walking around Konoha half-naked?", she snapped. Grapping his wrist, she began yanking him in the direction of his apartment building.

Blankly he looked down at flaming orange boxers back to her enraged back as he was dragged along, noticing he forgot to put on his clothes before storming out of Sasuke's.

He waited while she opened his apartment with the key he had given her. His attention was drawn to the tell-tale gleam about her hand, and felt his stomach drop as he studied the gold band on her slim finger.

She must have noticed, for she gushed, "Yea,I still can't believe it either!," before shoving him through the door. "Go wash,I'll make lunch."

His expression fell as he remembered the events of yesterday. Sakura, thinking it was something she had said, quickly amended, "I'll make ramen!"

He nodded silently before obeying her earlier request. After picking up some random clothes from his room, he stepped into the shower. As the water rained down he let the memories wash over him, holding the railing for support...

_"Naruto!"_

_The blond looked up from his bowl of ramen to see his team-mates walking over, Sakura waving her hand enthusiastically while the raven seemed to be trying to disappear._

_There was a manicured hand thurst into his face, and it took him a moment to realize the new ring accompanying a delicate finger._

_He looked up from the hand to the glowing face. "Congratulations!," He smiled, giving her a hug. _

_She nodded, pink hair bobbing in her excitement. "He proposed this morning!"_

_"Lee?" ,he stated more than asked._

_"No!", her face twitching in disgust for a second before the bright smile was back. "Sasuke-kun!"_

_At this information, Naruto realized that his feelings of begrudging friendship towards the dark haired male weren't so friendly. "Oh."_

_She didn't seem to notice his lack of response. Instead, she just pulled Sasuke closer, throwing her arms around his neck. "Can you believe we're getting married?"_

_Dazed, Naruto simply shook his head. They stayed a while longer, talking about wedding plans, or rather Sakura ranted and the men had to listen before she sprung up exclaiming, "I think I see Ino!"_

_The Uchiha got up at a more leisurely pace. "Dobe", he called as way of parting._

_"Bastard", Naruto quipped, automatically, though he just couldn't find it in himself put in the usual venom._

_When the two vanished into the crowd, the blond stood up, paid for his meal, and left, heading for a near by bar._

Naruto stepped out of the bathroom, clean and donned in uncharacteristic t-shirt and shorts. Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Trying to step up your game, Uzumaki?", she teased, setting the ramen in his hand when he sat on the couch before joining him.

Despite how he was feeling, he laughed, and asked her how work was going. They stayed like that, making idle chat before Sakura stood up, putting her plate on the table. "I've got plans with Ino.", she said as way of explanation. Naruto sat on the couch as he listened to sounds of washing her dishes.

"I'll come back later". There was muffled footsteps on carpet, the sound of the door clicking shut softly, and then she was gone.

It was then that the smile fell off the blue eyed man's face, leaving him looking tired and irritated.

No, he wasn't irritated he was in love with the bastard. From the beginning the two had been pulled towards the other in some mysterious way. Their bond was strange and stronger than either would admit. He supposed this was another facet of that bond.

No, he wasn't irritated that he slept with his best friend. Team Seven wasn't known to be conventional, and they had proved to be all the more efficient for their tangled and knotted relationships.

He was irritated that Sasuke had no doubt intended to leave him in the dark about the fact that he was going to be married to Sakura.

He lied to him, and that, that hurt more than if he had puched a hole through his chest. Again.

**The Morning After**

Sasuke was in the laundry room, watching his sheets tumble over themselves in the dryer when he heard a knock at his door.

When he went to open, his eyes reflected no surprise or anything. His face was perfectly blank. "Naruto"

Moving out of the doorway, he watched as the blonde sat on the dark sofa. What did he want?

Closing the door, he made his way over and sat in the one-seater, directly across from him. Waited for the idiot to just get this over with.

Finally azure skies looked up and opened their mouth. "You're marrying Sakura." It wasn't an accusation. It was a statement.

Oh. That was why he was here. He remembered.

Obsidian eyes gave away nothing. The Uchiha said nothing.

But that was was normal. However it was the smirk. That god-damn smirk that made Naruto throw himself at the boy, shoving him against a wall faster than the raven could blink.

He did nothing. Even as Naruto glared daggers at him, there was no reaction. No change. It was pissing the blonde off. "Say something!," he growled, digging his nails into the boy's pale arm, searching his dark orbs for some sign of emotion.

There was the faintest twich of lips as the smirk turned into an all-out cocky grin. That was all it took for Naruto to attack him.

Sasuke braced himself but never expected the punch to be thrown in the form of Naruto's lips. They burned, seared with the some unknown source of heat that scorched the avenger to the core. He pushed Naruto away, still said nothing.

Suddenly, Naruto was way too calm to have just been about to mold Sasuke into his wall. "I remember everything, Sasuke. Especially last night," he stated in sing-song.

That got a reaction out of Sasuke, alright. Pure,and unduluted panic. However, he made no inclination of moving.

Lips met in a collision as they were swept into the memory of last night.

_The dark- haired male pushed the blond off of him, watching as he instantly shot up unsteadily."You came over here drunk dobe?," Sasuke sneered._

_"Shut up!", the blonde roared. "You don't know anything!"_

_Crossing his arms, he tilted his head to the side, challenging the swaying blonde."Oh,well enlighten me then, dead-last."_

_Naruto launched himself at the Uchiha, and they fell, a tangle of limbs exchanging blows as they rolled until they hit the dining room table._

_The blonde pinned Sasuke's arms above his head, and pummeled the boys face."I'm the one who chased you!" He struck at the boy, not even caring where the punch would connect. Not even noticing that hits punches didn't have any strength behind him._

_"I'm the one who went to council and begged for them to let you back!", another punch._

_"I'm the one who repaired your stupid compound. The one who spent paychecks making sure when you came back, if you came back, that you woudn't have to worry about things your precious Uchiha legacy being ruined!" , this blow glanced Sasuke's face._

_"I'm the one who...," he trailed off as all the anger seemed to slide out of him, and he just fell against the pale man's chest._

_Sasuke deemed it safe to sit up at that point. Grabbing the younger boy's shoulder he shoke him harshly."You're the one wh-", he was cut off as warm lips were pressed desperately against his own before disappearing just as quickly._

_Dark eyes widened in realization of just who the boy was. When he stood up though, that shock had worn off. "I have to restore my clan.",he said, inwardly sorry as the blonde flinched like he'd been slapped. "I'm getting married."_

_Blue eyes refused to look up from their study of the floor he sat on until lips came crashing down on his. He looked up in hurt, and confusion._

_"I'm not married yet," he mentioned casually, the hated smirk now back in place._

_Naruto's eyes darkened in fury even as their faces came together alarmingly fast. "Don't screw with me, bastard."_

Naruto broke from the kiss, panting heavily before grabbing a fistful of raven hair. "I'm the one who owns you," he hissed breaking both of them out of their reverie as he dragged the raven into the back, planning on showing him just who he was.

**The Morning After**

A certain blonde shinobi lay staring at the cieling. He felt so very tired, and yet wasn't one bit sleepy. He turned his gaze to look directly into amused obsidian eyes.

"Gonna stare at me all day,dobe?," the Uchiha said lightly, and both of them reveled in the de ja vou it invoked before Sasuke walked out of the room, Naruto trailing after while slightly oogling the person in front of him.

"Stop staring, moron. A picture lasts longer," Sasuke stated before rummaging around in the cabinets for a moment before turning around to present Naruto with a glass of water and two pills.

Feeling the question spring up, he answered, "This would be for your ass, stupid."

This of course prompted the blonde to blush and sputter indignantly but he took the aspirin and swigged it down with a drink of water none-the-less. After which he of course glared.

Sasuke snorted. As if an _Uchiha_would be intimidated by a mere look. "Gonna hit me, uskarontachi?"

Naruto gave him a very-Uchiha like smirk. "I've got a better idea," he claimed as he strided over to the similarly smirking Uchiha.

Cupping the pale face, blue met black as the faces came closer and closer. Their attention focused solely on the other as if simply because they willed it, the other would get a little closer.

**The Morning After**

Sakura giggled as she fit her key into the lock of Sasuke's door. He would be so surprised to see her. Also it would be interesting to catch the Uchiha off-guard.

It was also one of those times she was thankful Kakashi had made them all swap keys when they got their own places.

Pushing open the door, she couldn't hold back the gasp that escaped her throat.

Naruto had pushed Sasuke up against wall, their bare chest touching, their mouths slammed together as the raven did nothing to stop the barrage.

As if finally noticing her staring at them from the doorway, they removed themselves from each other with a loud wet sound.

Guilty azure and blank obsidian eyes met shocked emerald.

No one said a thing as Sakura gently closed the door. She just simply stared at them her expression never changing.

None of the people caught in the emotional triangle showed any signs of speaking and the silence was slowly thickening.

A nervous chuckle from Naruto broke through, and he suddenly had two sets of eyes on him.

"Well, we should probably get dressed, yeah?", sounding a tad too much like Deidara to be right in such a tense situation.

However, he nor Sasuke made any move for the back of the apartment to do so, and Sakura made no motion of averted her eyes.

She simply had no idea on what to get her gaze on; the scratches all over Sasuke's arms, or the bite mark's on the vulpine boy's chest.

The morning after couldn't have been any more awkward.

* * *

Reviews are welcome.


	2. The Next Day

**A/N:**The sequel one shot to 'The Morning After',sort don't have to read the first to understand the 'd make me happy though.

**Disclaimer**:I don't own Naruto,Kishimoto amusement of torturing his characters though,is all mine.

* * *

**T**he **N**ext **D**ay  
Entendre Euphenist

Sakura stared at the ring on her hand as people passed by her in succession, congratulating her. It was a rather nice ring, the crowd kept reminding her.

They 'oohed' and 'aahed' over how exoctic the silver band was. Over how the large opal stone in the middle shone, and was only accentuated by the diamonds spheres surrounding it.

She didn't look up from the ring as family and friends came to give her heart-warming hugs, telling her how happy they were for her. How the raven haired man was one lucky groom, and speaking of which, where was he?

Green eyes focused on opal as the crowded church buzzed with worry, and suspicion as the groom didn't appear to be inside the church.

Didn't lift her head as her blonde haired brides'-maid mentioned she hadn't seen the Uchiha since they shared vows. Sakura didn't even open her mouth to reply.

When the church finally cleared out, leaving her standing in front of the pew, head bowed in her examination of her ring, she didn't bother to look up from her blindingly white heeled feet as she made her way back down the aisle.

Past the dark haired gentleman who grabbed her arm. Made her pause. Made her look _up_.

"Wanna go get something to eat before we head home?" he said lightly as if it were some inside joke he was being considerate enough to let her in on. The inside joke she didn't want to know.

"Not really," she said, though she knew it wasn't really a question so much as his way of stating that was what they were doing. He wanted to walk around town. Show her off. Cause a commotion.

She didn't mind. She just kept staring at her ring, though it didn't match with the gold band she had taken off the day ring she wouldn't wear ever again.

* * *

Sasuke slipped into the apartment, moving quietly almost as if he were afraid to make a noise. He wasn't, but those three years inside that underground hell he had been, and old habits died hard, so he snuck into the bedroom anyways. Even though he wasn't really sneaking. He was walking.

Though if anyone else walked around like that, he would have called it sneaking and alot more people would too. No one cared if he snuck around though.

He was Sasuke, they loved him, and if you thought about it, wasn't he always sneaking around?

Blue eyes had been gazing out the window before their gaze settled on the avenger. Naruto had been watching the thunder clouds roll in from across town.

It seemed that if no one else, at least the sky loved him, and that since he couldn't, it'd cry for him.

He studied the carefully blank face in front of him before holding up his holding up his hands slightly in that awkward way that was meant to be a waiting embrace. He didn't want a hug, nor did he find it neccessary to give Sasuke one.

It was simply a reaction.

The raven hesitated for a moment before he reacted, faster than he could think, and he was wrapped in warmth, his nose tickling golden locks. "Your hair's gotten longer," he mouth uttered smoothly, implying nothing with this statement.

Though they both know that it was a precursor to small talk that failed, and shattered that peaceful moment forever.

At the same moment, as though rehearsed, they pushed away from each.

Cobalt eyes narrowed. "Bastard"

"Bitch."

"Dobe."

"Stupid."

Obsidian eyes looked smug for some reason no one could be sure of. "Moron."

"You ass," Naruto snapped back viciously. Though the insult had lost some of it's bite.

"Fag," he blurted, and there was silence. It suddenly dawned on him maybe that wasn't the best thing to say to the blue eyed man at the moment. He had hit the nail on the head this time.

The blonde froze before he visibly withdrew, and the raven mentally slapped himself before realizing maybe him and words just weren't a good idea.

He reached a hand out. "Naru-", pausing as his touch was slapped aside.

"Get the hell off of me," he hissed,"I'm a _fag_." Each word was dripping with so much venom it stung Sasuke's heart to hear it.

"Get out!" Naruto shrieked, back turned toward the man. "Get out! Get out! GET THE HELL OUT!" The blonde was yelling as if he was throwing a fit.

Sasuke looked around, as if expecting the man's not so pleasant neighbors, to come forth, complaints at the ready. When none of that happened, he jerked the blond around and silenced him in the only way he knew how.

Even though blue eyes had given up whatever fight they led, fist still beat against the dark suit of the raven. In time though the appendages grew slack, and were suddenly grasping the material tightly.

When they parted Sasuke forced blue to meet black. "I'm bad with words, you don't have to tell me." He stared at the blond, hoping that his words would sink in, show the vulpine man that he meant each word.

He knew he had been forgiven when a whiskered cheek rested delicately on his shoulder. "I hate you."

"I hate you too, dobe." The blonde smiled then for even though he couldn't see it, Naruto knew there was a smirk on the bastard's face.

Pushing off of the avenger, he ushered the stoic man out of the apartment. "You've stressed me out enough today, I think. Go. Aren't you supposed to be on your honeymoon?" Grinning insanely, he shut the door on a shocked pale face.

On the other side of the door, Sasuke smiled sadly. He knew that Naruto wouldn't be smiling anytime soon after this. He also knew, that despite that, the man would be hell-bent on getting him home to Sakura.

Shaking his head, he left, striding out as sneakily as he had come in.

* * *

Sakura stood at the door, robe clutched around her shoulders as she watched the Hyuuga walk off until he became a dark speck on the horizon.

Pale arms wrapped around her waist, and she leaned against the bare chest tiredly. "How was your honeymoon?" he asked blandly, though with a touch of sarcasm.

She snorted. "I don't know. It was company...how was yours?" she teased.

There was a pause. "I got kicked out."

"Oh?", she said curious now as she leaned back to look into distant eyes. Then again,it wasn't anything she didn't know. Sasuke was Sasuke, and that meant he was a man of few words, and often, of few words that were the most horrid to speak.

There was another comfortable silence as the couple looked at the sky from their vantage on the porch. It was a full moon tonight, though you couldn't tell through the trees that lined the walkway.

"You know, he's going over there right now."

There was no grunt of acknowledgement, or even the usual 'hn'. There wasn't a need for heard her:loud or clear. Knew the 'he' she was talking about. Had just been at the 'there'

"Think we should go?" she stated, not because she didn't care, but because she wanted an answer. As dearly as she loved Naruto, she really didn't know him. Didn't know if that was really such a good idea.

Only Sasuke understood Naruto. Only Sasuke was allowed to.

"Hn", was the response and she smiled gently, before unfolding herself from the raven. She loved how he could express so much in one little word.

Some could say he was being rude. She knew it was his way of saying he trusted you to interpret what it really meant. She could read between his lines.

Despite the shock of it, she was glad Naruto was one of those people as well.

"I'll be a sec', kay?", she pecked his cheek before pattering into the house.

Sasuke looked up at the sky, gazing into the heavens as if seeking the an answer for how he had gotten tangled in this mess in the first place.

"Hn," he said to no one in particular as if waiting for someone to interpret it for what it was. Team Seven was more trouble than it was worth.

Inside, Obsidian eyes knew they were lying.

* * *

Before his hand hit the door, it revealed a tear-stained face. Blue eyes that were a maelstrom as he was invited in.

He walked inside in a way that could only be described as gliding for his sandaled feet made no noise what-so-ever.

Funny how Naruto always got stuck with the silent types.

"What'd he do this time, Uzumaki?", Neji stated as he sat graciously on the sofa. He was bluntly to the point but in no way was he rude. The pale eyed man was disrespectful to no one, least of all the blond in front of him.

"I have no clue what I'm doing," the tan male said suddenly, throwing his hands up into the air. "This,what-ever, this is ,just isn't working,and I-"

"If you were with me,you wouldn't be distressed." The statement was simply meant to stop his rant but it implied much more and they both knew ot.

However, so much was in the way of it happeneing. Namely one Uchiha Sasuke. It was also testament to the reason the Hyuuga had paid him a visit.

Naruto let out a shacky chuckle before running a shaky hand through his hair. He'd been doing that alot lately. More so today than anything else.

"I'm sorry, it's just, his wedding was today, and he tore out of it to come here. For what? To screw around with my head?" He let the statement float around for a while. "This whole thing is a mess."

He looked at the attentive dark haired man sitting on his couch, looking out of place in the shabby surroundings. "I'm a mess." That was his way of expressing disbelief at the man in front of him. He couldn't really want him. Couldn't really want any part of the chaos that was Uzumaki Naruto.

Quick as flash, The long haired man was upon him, kissing him, and filling the blond with warm reassurances of his sanity. When they parted, Neji gave him an uncharacterstic grin, "Well then it seems I'm fated keep fixing you up,now aren't I?"

An uncharcteristic joke from the stoic boy. But then again, wasn't everybody popping up with surprises recently?

The orange clad shinobi grinned at that, though dark oceans were thousands of miles away, and he knew it wasn't real.

Neji knew too, if the way he moved away from him was any indication.

Naruto hugged him, knowing that would freeze the not-a-people-person in his tracks. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," his voice laden with the reality of the moment. He really was sorry.

"So am I", silver eyes whispered, and it was true because you really can't control who you love. It was one of those things that simply happened, and when it did you had to go with the flow.

Hadn't wanted the vulpine boy to hear it, at least not consciously but Naruto had heard him, and he felt his stomach drop at knowing he couldn't reciprocate such strong feelings. Wasn't allowed to. Felt bad because of it.

The key turned in the lock, and both pairs of eyes fell on the newly weds.

Sasuke glared at that scene, clearly expressing his dislike while Sakura beamed in pleasure from it. However, both had their eyes locked with gray, and they stood in the door frame, clearly looking for all the world like fretting parents about to let their daughter go on her first date.

The Uchiha spoke and that moment was broken.

"Idiot"

"Duck Butt"

With those words a silent agreement was formed between the team mates as Naruto loosened his hold on the curious man while Sasuke led Sakura to the kitchen table.

A few minutes passed before in a bout of random emotion Sasuke wrenched him from the blond's grip, shoving him against the wall. "You can love can have her,but their mine."

Violently he smashed his mouth against Neji's, almost as if daring him to push him stood there, boldly kissing back just as viciously while the Uchiha tried to memorize the man by how the inside of his mouth tasted.

He tried to say with his actions what he couldn't while speaking, because previously agreed, he was bad with words, and no one could ever refute that. Because it was true, so much so that they all had the scars on their hearts to prove it.

When he ended the lip-lock just as abruptly, the air wasn't as tense anymore. Apprently the Hyuuga had passed whatever test he'd taken.

"You're mine now,too." Sasuke hissed, not threateningly, but as the bold statement that he trusted the pale eyed wasn't letting go of Naruto. He was selfish and they all knew it. He was just grabbing hold of Neji.

"Welcome to the family!," Sakura stated giddily before she gave him a smooch. It wasn't loving, as she'd had all the time in the world a few hours ago to be that.

It was simply greeting between new friends. He was someone new, had been changed into someone she didn't recognise, and so she felt the need to introduce herself again.

Cause he was different from the man she gallavanted around town wih this afternoon with in skips that ended on her oh-so-soft leather couch.

No, this was a different man, and she felt justified to give him a fresh start.

The drama was over, and things could finally begin to settle into whatever botched version of normal they could get.

If Neji was shocked he didn't say anything. He was now part of their very eccentric family,and team seven didn't keep anything to themself for too long. They shared everything.

Naruto watched the whole thing with mixed feeling and wasn't sure which one to express. Should he be happy he was wanted? That he would finally have someone who would love him unrestrictedly?

Should he be mad that if Sasuke hadn't approved, like Sasuke was the ruler of his world or something,that this wouldn't have even have gotten a chance?

Naruto knew that with out a doubt in his mind, if Sasuke had asked him to, he would have served the Hyuuga his heart back on a silver platter.

Should he be mad he was wrapped around the smirking bastard's finger?

He looked and saw smoky eyes gazing at him. Waiting as patiently as they had these five years,and decided that he was just content with the way this had turned out.

Team Seven truly did work well together.

The blond opened his arms wide, a crazy grin on slapped on his face. "Join the mess",he said softly, simply for the sake of keeping the surprises going.

Unlike earlier that day with Sasuke, this wasn't a reaction. This was a need to confirm with touch what he couldn't with his mind. It finally sank in, when he had his nose buried in chocolate locks. Instead of being over-whelmed with joy at the fact that it was really happening, he just felt tired.

He knew this mess had gotten alot more complicated.

He felt that whole-heartedly when two sets of hands and a burning gaze led him towards the he hit the mattress, he just lay, his body on autopilot, his mind blank. Over-whelmed. Couldn't deal with it right now.

He felt nothing when hands undressed him,roamed over his skin.

He felt nothing even as his body writhed,and arched autmatically.A reaction.

He felt nothing as warm bodies pressed together,flush against him as they pulled up the covers and drifted off.

He felt nothing when somehow sleep claimed him. Because if he allowed himself to feel anything,he'd know that what they were doing was wrong. That it wouldn't be allowed.

But it was the answer to everything!

The blond realized that maybe this was perhaps a bitter-sweet ending at best. It was happy for as long as it lasted, and since they were all pig-headed it would last a long time.

But would that be enough, just the four of them, to endure the rumours and suspicion? The disgust from the villagers, and Naruto sighed while wondering if he already got enough of that anyways.

No one would see it like they did, and they never would. Team-Seven had always been like that, always been up at a level far above anyone's comprehension but their own. Everyone had at least tried to understand though, they tried to get to their platform at least.

They wouldn't bother to understand this. There would be no sympathesing with this. There would be only hate from these backwards, ghost-fearing townsfolk.

No one would try to understand. What they would do, would be riot, and if it came down to the Godaime, whatever her response it was sure to be leniant and he didn't want to trigger a cou de 'tat, no matter how important the stakes were.

We were talking about his happiness, and our dear vulpine boy was if ever, rarely happy, and tended to hoard together the moments were he was. Because despite feeling nothing, underneath the dread was a bubbling happiness that he knew if it ever surfaced would destroy whatever facade they were trying to present.

It would break them-his happiness.

So, he knew he could only deal with this in moments, and not lifetimes. He also knew that his companions were anything but slow on the up-take and if he was just realizing this, then they had kown ages ago, but again beside the point.

They wouldn't want to hurt him, or anyone else. Or maybe they do,but he knew they wouldn't if at least for his sake.

So, that was why as he slid his eyes closed, surrounded in heart-wrending wamrth, he knew that they wouldn't be there when he woke. Knew that one by one they would slip into the night, leaving nothing but an imprint in his mattress as a reminder, and that he had better go to sleep soon so they could do so under the cover of night.

He knew that because whatever they were doing-this mess-was wrong.

However as bad as looked to him,under the cover of darkness,it would only look worse the next day.

* * *

Comments are appreciated.


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